Jim Carrey

James Eugene Carrey (born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is known for his manic, slapstick performances in comedy films such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Me, Myself & Irene, The Cable Guy, Liar Liar and Bruce Almighty. Carrey has also achieved Golden Globes for his dramatic roles in The Truman Show and Man on the Moon.

Jim Carrey was born in Newmarket, Ontario to Kathleen Oram, and Percy Carrey, a mortician. He has three older siblings, John, Patricia and Rita. The family was Catholic and has some French Canadian ancestry (as the original surname was Carré).

Carrey made his film debut in Rubberface (1983) (in a minor role), which was known as 'Introducing...Janet' at the time of release. Later that year, he won the leading role in Damian Lee's Canadian skiing comedy Copper Mountain, which included his amusing impersonation of Sammy Davis Jr.. Since the film had a less than one hour runtime consisting largely of musical performances by Rita Coolidge and Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins, it was not considered a genuine feature film. A few years later, Carrey saw his first major starring role in the dark comedy Once Bitten in the role of Mark Kendall, a teen virgin pursued by a 400-year old female vampire (played by Lauren Hutton). After supporting roles in films such as Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Earth Girls are Easy (1988) and The Dead Pool (1988) Carrey did not experience true stardom until being cast to star in the 1994 comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, which premiered only months before In Living Color ended its run. The film was panned by critics, and earned Carrey a 1995 Golden Raspberry Award nomination as Worst New Star. However, the film was a huge commercial success, as were his two other starring roles, in The Mask and Dumb and Dumber, both released the same year.

Carrey made headlines when it was revealed that he earned twenty million dollars for his next film, The Cable Guy (directed by Ben Stiller), a record sum for a comedy actor. The attention drawn to the paycheck, coupled with some negative reviews, and the film's dark sensibility, all contributed to the film's mediocre earnings, although the film is regarded as sadly underrated by a significant number of people . Carrey quickly rebounded with the successful (and lighter) Liar Liar, a return to his trademark comedy style.

In 2004, he played Count Olaf in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, which was based on the popular children's novels. In 2005, Carrey starred in a remake of Fun with Dick and Jane, playing Dick, a husband who loses his job after his company goes bankrupt.